Elected presidents of the United States and Iraq should just do what the leaders of the American military say they should do. At least, that is what McCain thinks, according to their statement that was released in response to Al-Malaki:
"Barack Obama has said repeatedly that, if elected President, he would summon the Joint Chiefs of Staff and give them a new mission: get all U.S. forces out of Iraq within 16 months, regardless of the conditions on the ground. Today, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen, the nation's highest ranking officer, made clear that he believes such an approach could be 'very dangerous.' Admiral Mullen further added that his view is shared by U.S. commanders in Iraq, who are 'adamant about continuing progress, about making decisions based on what's actually happening in the battle space.'
Neither the head of state of Iraq nor the head of state of the United States should tell the American military what to do in Iraq. Also, the people of American and the people of Iraq also should not have a say. At least the McCain campaign is clear on what they think should determine U.S. policy in Iraq: military dictatorship.
It took the McCain campaign roughly 36 hours to come up with any response to Al-Malaki. In the end, they seem to have decided to play the military dictatorship card. Almost as much as I have ever wanted anything in this campaign, I would love it if the Obama campaign would responds with a statement making it clear that the civilian, democratically elected governments of both countries determine military policy, not military commanders. The conservative demand that we should all just do whatever the military says has gone unchecked long enough.
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